Understanding you
by Wolfgoddess77
Summary: <html><head></head>All Naruto ever wanted was to break the mask that Sasuke wore. When the anniversary of Itachi's death rolls around he might finally have the chance he needed. Narusasu one-shot</html>


Author Note-Wow I haven't written anything for Fan fiction in a while. I'm sorry to everyone who wants an update on my For You Harry/Draco fanfic but I just haven't been able to get an inspiration for it. If anyone had any suggestions that would be great and I would be sure to credit you. Anyway I never have a problem writing a NaruSasu fic they are my favorite couple ever!

**Understanding You**

"It had to start raining didn't it?" Naruto said as he stared out the Hokage office window. Tsunade looked up from her work to laugh at the blonde scowling at the rain falling from the dark grey clouds above.

"Of course it did brat, just to annoy you." She said, standing to join him by the window.

"You better hurry home; it doesn't look like it's going to let up anytime soon. Plus you don't want to keep Sasuke waiting do you?"

Naruto's scowl softened, "I doubt he'd really care if I was late, bastard barley speaks to me at home."

Tsunade moved back to her desk, pulling a bottle of sake from a drawer and pouring herself a glass.

"It's Sasuke Uchiha were talking about, he usually doesn't say much."

Naruto crossed his arms over his chest, an annoyed look crossing over his face. "Yeah, but it's been a year and he still won't talk to me about anything. He just gets moody and stalks off to read somewhere."

Tsunade took a long swig of her drink, "Brat stop pressuring him, when he's ready to talk, he'll talk. He's been through a lot over the past few years, give him time. Also you're probably not the easiest person to live with."

Blue eyes turned from the window to glare at her weakly, he stuck his tongue out playfully "Whatever granny, I'm out of here. "

"Naruto." Tsunade said, stopping the blonde before he walked out the door.

"Yeah?"

"Don't push him too hard." She said seriously. Naruto grinned, "Alright, bye granny!"

With that he headed out the door, Tsunade sighed pouring herself another drink. Naruto and Sasuke had the most complicated relationship she had ever seen.

"Sasuke! I'm back from my mission!" He yelled once he had stepped into the apartment. He threw his jacket in the corner along with his headband shoes and other ninja gear. Sasuke would most likely bitch at him about his messy habits later.

"Sasuke?" he called again after getting no reply. Noticing all the lights were off, he figured that the dark haired teen might have fallen asleep somewhere.

He wondered into the living room first since Sasuke could usually be found in there reading, but the lights were off and the only thing on the couch was a blanket.

"Where did he go?" he asked himself. The Uchiha had to be in the apartment somewhere, he wasn't allowed to leave without Naruto accompanying him.

After checking the kitchen and bathroom he headed for the bedroom, if Sasuke wasn't there than he would have to explain to Tsunade why he couldn't keep track of the former fugitive.

Relief flooded through him when he padded into the bedroom to find Sasuke sitting on the bed, his face buried in his knees. Thunder roared outside and he could have sworn he saw Sasuke shiver.

It was weird that Sasuke was in the bedroom at all, he usually only came in there for sleeping because Naruto wouldn't allow him to sleep on the couch when the bed was big enough to share. Other than that he stayed out.

Slowly he moved over to the bed, sitting down next to his friend. "Sasuke, what's wrong?" he asked, as gently as he could. He wasn't used to the teen acting like this.

"Nothing." Was the Uchiha's muffled reply.

"Then why are you sitting here in the dark? Did something happen, you can tell me."

Sasuke remained silent, the blonde inwardly sighed. It seemed that after he had dragged Sasuke back he had become more broody and closed off than before he had deserted Konoha.

When Tsunade had sentenced Sasuke to live with him, he was happy that he might be able to break the mask the dark haired boy had worn for years.

A year spent living together and he hadn't even made a crack. Whenever he tried to steer the conversation to what Sasuke was feeling, the boy would retreat into himself and become unresponsive.

Though he had never seen Sasuke act like this.

"Sasuke look at me and just tell me what's wrong please?"

His words must have gotten through because Sasuke lifted his head to look at him, but he didn't say anything in reply.

Lighting flashed outside illuminating the Uchiha's face, he could clearly see the tear tracks on Sasuke's face.

He had never seen Sasuke cry, and the sight shocked him. Something had to be seriously wrong for the dark haired boy to let Naruto see him that broken.

Dark eyes looked away from him to stare at the wall, ignoring the fact that the blonde was sitting beside him.

"Sasuke please tell me what's wrong, I just want to try and help you."

He wanted to shake the Ice prince until he admitted to what was wrong, but the words Tsunade had said rang in his mind like a warning bell.

"_Don't push him, he'll tell you when he's ready."_

Sasuke laughed bitterly, the sound mixed with the thunder creating an eerie feeling.

"You can't help me, how many times must I tell you that?"

The anger in Naruto rose, "That's not true Sasuke, you can be helped if you would let people know what you're feeling."

Sasuke scoffed glaring at the blonde through the dark, "Why do you care about what I'm feeling? No one's ever cared about how I feel!" he yelled.

Naruto had to take a breath to prevent himself from lashing out at the Uchiha. He wanted to yell about how no one ever cared about him either, but he knew that wasn't the way to handle this situation.

"Why do care anyway, you can't save me Naruto." Sasuke said solemnly.

"I've chased after you since you abandoned us, Sasuke. I had my mind set that I could save you, but every time I tried to convince you to come back, you would start talking about how it was too late that you couldn't be saved. I never gave up then and I'm not going to now."

Naruto laughed, though the sound wasn't humorous. "I care about you a lot more than I should, haven't you realized this by now?"

Sasuke shifted, moving so that he was completely facing the blonde.

"But why?" he whispered. "No one but my brother has ever cared so much about me." His voice broke when he spoke about Itachi. He bit his lip to stop the tears from flowing again.

Seeing Sasuke like this was making him want to cry along with the teen. The sight of Sasuke broken was hurting him more than he wanted to admit.

Suddenly realization hit him; he wanted to smack himself for not noticing what was wrong with Sasuke in the first place.

His anger and sadness faded replaced by a strong sense of guilt.

"Sasuke—it's the anniversary of the day you killed your brother isn't it?"

Sasuke didn't have to say a word; he could tell he was right by the look on the dark haired teens face.

"I'm so sorry I should have known. I—

"You have nothing to feel sorry for, I'm the one who killed him not you."

Naruto bit back tears, "No if I had gotten there sooner, if I could have stopped you—you wouldn't have to feel like this. You could—you could be happy." His voice broke.

All he had wanted was to save Sasuke, to save the Uchiha from the darkness that was slowly swallowing him whole. He had wanted to see the rare smile Sasuke had once shown again.

To see the broken boy in front of him laugh and be happy and not burdened by the demons that followed him.

To see Sasuke completely broken like this a year after returning to a sense of normalcy was breaking his heart. He had wanted to comfort the boy, but had ended up being angry at him for not telling him what was wrong.

Sasuke was silently staring at him, the sound of rain hitting the window and the crackling of thunder echoing through the room.

Cautiously Sasuke reached out placing his hand on top of Naruto's.

"There was nothing you could of done." He said trying to keep the blonde from crying.

"And I am happy, here with you. The life I'm leading here is a lot less painful as the one I used to lead."

The smile returned to Naruto's face, he tightened his grip on Sasuke's hand.

"You know you don't have to go through all this alone. I'm here for you; you don't have to shoulder all this pain by yourself. So please, please just tell me what you're feeling."

At Naruto's words the famous Uchiha mask cracked, Sasuke sighed wiping furiously at the remaining tears in his eyes.

"You know why I had to kill my brother; Madara explained the story to you correct?"

Naruto nodded.

Sasuke took a deep breath; he needed to get through this. He needed to learn how to talk to people, and he wanted Naruto to understand.

"I never knew the truth though until after words when Madara explained it to me. I never knew all Itachi had to go through just to protect me."

His calm manor started to collapse, "I'm not worth all he did for me, I betrayed my home I left my friends. I turned traitor and for what? To get revenge on the only person who truly cared about me."

He wanted to know why it had to be that way, why fate had decided to be so cruel to him. His eyes turned back to Naruto, fate had introduced him to the hyperactive blonde.

Fate had given him someone else who truly cared who wanted to listen to him and figure him out. Maybe fate wasn't as bad as he was making it out to be.

"I care about you Sasuke; there are still people who care about you."

Sasuke smiled slightly, "Though why did it have to be this way?" he whispered. If Naruto hadn't been listening he would have missed it.

"I could have stayed, we could have been friends."

"We are friends Sasuke, you leaving and me chasing after you only made our bond stronger."

A small laugh emitted from the Uchiha, "I never did break that bond did I? You held onto it too strongly."

A goofy grin spread across Naruto's face, "I just couldn't give up on you."

"I'm sorry for being so cold to you this past year, talking like this has actually made me feel better, but the pain from what I did on this day will never go away."

Without thinking about it Naruto pulled Sasuke into a hug, Sasuke's first reaction was to pull away. Instead he found himself snuggling into the blonde's chest inhaling his sent.

"That's okay Sasuke, I promise to be by your side every year on this day so that you can burden me with some of that pain. You're not alone in this, not at all."

Sasuke wrapped his arms tightly around Naruto and finally let the rest of his tears fall. Naruto ran his fingers through Sasuke's hair as a calming gesture.

"Your brother lied to protect you Sasuke; he lied because he loved you. It's my turn to love you now; it's my turn to protect you."

He was happy; Sasuke had finally opened up to him. He had cracked the mask and watched as it fell to the ground.

"Naruto?" Sasuke whispered in his ear.

"Yeah Sasuke?"

The dark haired boy laughed through his remaining sobs, "Did you just confess to loving me?"

Naruto froze, replaying what he had just said in his mind.

"Yeah I did and I mean it too, I love you. I think I've always loved you."

Sasuke pulled away from their previous embrace. He smiled despite the tears on his face; he leaned in brushing their lips together in a brief kiss.

"I love you too Naruto." He said before the blonde decided to lean in for another kiss, pinning the Uchiha to the bed.

They fell asleep in each other's arms the sound of the rain and thunder fading in the background.

"Ugh it's raining again!" Naruto huffed staring out the Hokage office window the next day.

Sasuke pulled on the blonde's hand, diverting his attention away from the window and back to Tsunade who was staring at him.

"Sorry what did you say baa-chan?"

"I said that it seems you and Sasuke are getting along a lot better than before." She glanced down at the boys intertwined hands, causing a blush to spread across the Uchha's face.

Naruto threw an arm around Sasuke pulling him closer, "Yeah! We talked yesterday and now we're a lot more comfortable with each other!"

"Naruto." Sasuke said, trying to get the blonde idiot off of him. Tsunade laughed at the two boys in front of her, she hoped that there relationship only grew stronger.


End file.
